Group of round barrows
See also SOMERSET 170

A Scheduled Monument in Exmoor, Somerset

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Coordinates

Latitude: 51.1115 / 51°6'41"N

Longitude: -3.7909 / 3°47'27"W

OS Eastings: 274727.647851

OS Northings: 136215.31598

OS Grid: SS747362

Mapcode National: GBR L3.B7FH

Mapcode Global: VH5KC.7BQ8

Entry Name: Group of round barrows
See also SOMERSET 170

Scheduled Date: 5 August 1974

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1002626

English Heritage Legacy ID: DV 894

County: Somerset

Civil Parish: Exmoor

Traditional County: Somerset

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Somerset

Summary

A group of four bowl barrows known as ‘Two Barrows’ 880m south east of Kinsford Gate.

Source: Historic England

Details

This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 29 July 2015. This record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records.

This monument which falls into four areas includes four bowl barrows situated at the summit of the prominent ridge known as Span Head between Fyldon Common and Hangley Cleave, and straddling the county boundary between Devon and Somerset. The westernmost barrow survives as a circular mound measuring up to 19m in diameter and 0.6m high, has a central excavation hollow, and lies to the west of the road which bisects the group of four barrows. The northern side of this road also marks the county boundary. Immediately to the east of this road and partially cut by both it and a ditched field boundary lies the second bowl barrow which survives as an up to 21m diameter mound which stands to 0.9m high. This barrow has approximately three separate excavation hollows and was used as a boundary marker for both Exmoor Forest and the County. The most prominent barrow of the group survives as a circular mound which measures up to 19.8m in diameter and 2.1m high. It has a central excavation hollow and a possible backfilled trench leading across the summit from the south west to the north east. It is shown on Ordnance Survey maps from 1889 to 1904 supporting a triangulation pillar, but this is no longer present. The most easterly barrow of the group survives as a circular mound measuring up to 16.5m in diameter and 0.5m high and has a central excavation hollow. With all four barrows the surrounding up to 3m wide quarry ditches from which material to construct the mounds was derived survive as buried features.

Further archaeological remains in the vicinity are scheduled separately.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

Exmoor is the most easterly of the three main upland areas in the south western peninsula of England. In contrast to the others, Dartmoor and Bodmin Moor, there has been no history of antiquarian research and little excavation of its monuments. However, detailed survey work by the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England has confirmed a comparable richness of archaeological remains, with evidence of human exploitation and occupation from the Mesolithic period to the present day. Many of the field monuments surviving on Exmoor date from the later prehistoric period. Examples include stone settings, stone alignments, standing stones, and burial mounds (`barrows'). Bowl barrows, the most numerous form of round barrow, are funerary monuments dating to the Late Neolithic period to the Late Bronze Age, with most examples belonging to the period 2400-1500BC. They were constructed as earthen or rubble mounds, sometimes ditched, which covered single or multiple burials. They occur either in isolation or grouped as cemeteries and often acted as a focus for burials in later periods. Over 370 bowl barrows, varying in diameter from 2m to 35m, have been recorded on Exmoor. Many of these are found on or close to the summits of the three east-west ridges which cross the moor - the southern escarpment, the central ridge, and the northern ridge - whilst individual barrows and groups may also be found on lower lying ground and hillslopes. Those which occupy prominent locations form a major visual element in the modern landscape. Their considerable variation in form and longevity as a monument type provide important information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisation amongst early prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period. Despite partial early excavation of all four of these prominent barrows they still continue to hold an important territorial significance marking the boundaries of modern Counties and Exmoor Forest and will contain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to their construction, relative chronologies, social organisation, funerary and ritual practices and their overall landscape context.

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